US President Joe Biden has informed Congress of his intention to lift the US designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism, the White House announced, as part of a deal facilitated by the Catholic Church to release political prisoners from the island.
Senior U.S. administration officials, who previewed the announcement on condition of anonymity, said that “several dozen” political prisoners and others considered by the United States to be unjustly detained would be released by the end of the Biden administration, January 20 at noon.
The United States would also ease some economic pressures on Cuba, as well as a memorandum issued in 2017 by then-President Donald Trump toughening the U.S. stance toward Cuba.
“By taking these steps to strengthen the ongoing dialogue between the Cuban government and the Catholic Church, President Biden is also honoring the wisdom and guidance provided to him by many world leaders, particularly in Latin America, who “encouraged us to take these steps, on how best to advance the human rights of the Cuban people,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.
The Cuban Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that the government had informed Pope Francis that it would release 553 people convicted of various crimes. They indicated that they would be gradually released, as the authorities analyzed the legal and humanitarian means to achieve this.
The Foreign Ministry did not link the prisoners’ release to the US decision to lift the state sponsor of terrorism designation, but “in the spirit of the ordinary jubilee of the year 2025 declared by His Holiness”.
Cuban authorities have not said who is among the 553 people who will be released.
The incumbent Democrat’s one-term bid is expected to be reversed as early as next week after Trump, the Republican now president-elect, takes office and Secretary of State designate Marco Rubio assumes the post of America’s top diplomat.
Rubio, whose family left Cuba in the 1950s before the communist revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power, has long been a supporter of sanctions against the communist island. Rubio will appear before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday for his confirmation hearing and is expected to address his Cuban roots in his testimony.
Get the latest national news
For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up to receive breaking news alerts sent directly to you as they happen.
Trump also named Mauricio Claver-Carone, a former White House National Security Council adviser and strong supporter of sanctions against Cuba, as his special envoy to Latin America.
In the final days of the first Trump administration, on January 11, 2021, the White House reinstated this designation, which had been rescinded during the period of rapprochement between Cuba and the United States during President Barack Obama’s second term. In doing so, the Trump administration cited, among other issues, Cuba’s support for Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and its refusal to extradite Colombian rebels to Colombia, including its continued harboring of wanted Americans.
Trump’s decision to designate Cuba was one of several foreign policy moves he took in the final days of his first term.
About six months after Trump designated Cuba as a sponsor of terrorism, the Biden administration imposed new sanctions on the island’s officials and the National Revolutionary Police after hundreds of Cubans were arrested during protests in Havana and in other cities to protest shortages, power outages and government policies. These were the first protests of this type since the 1990s.
Human rights groups and activists, including the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, have pressured the Biden administration to lift the designation to ease the suffering of the Cuban people who are feeling the impact of Cuba’s economic isolation.
The Cuban government acknowledged this announcement and expressed its gratitude, although it considers it “limited”.
“Despite its limited scope, this is a decision that goes in the right direction and is in line with the sustained and firm demand of the Cuban government and people,” the country’s foreign ministry said in a statement press.
“The decision announced today by the United States rectifies, in a very limited way, certain aspects of a cruel and unjust policy,” adds the text.
Congress and the new Trump administration will have an opportunity to review and possibly reverse Biden’s actions, even though senior U.S. administration officials have said the Biden administration has determined there is no “no credible evidence” that Cuba was currently engaged in supporting international terrorism.
The Cuban Foreign Ministry said the government was aware that the new US government could reverse its decision, but that it would remain “ready to develop a respectful relationship with this country, based on dialogue and non-interference in the internal affairs of Cuba. both countries, despite the differences.
There was no immediate comment from the Trump transition team, nor from Rubio or his office, but one of his Republican colleagues on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz , quickly denounced the Biden administration’s decision.
“Today’s decision is unacceptable on its merits,” Cruz said in a statement. “The terrorism carried out by the Cuban regime has not stopped. I will work with President Trump and my colleagues to immediately reverse this decision and limit the damage. »
Rep. Carlos Gimenez, a Republican from Florida, criticized the move and predicted that Trump would quickly reverse Biden’s decision.
“President Biden is a pathetic coward,” Gimenez posted on but WILL pulverize the regime once and for all!
Biden, in a national security memorandum released Tuesday, certified that Cuba has provided no support for international terrorism over the past six months and provided the administration with assurance that it would not support acts of terrorism in the future.
The move comes after the administration in May removed Cuba from the State Department’s restricted list of countries it deems uncooperative against violent groups.
AP writer Andrea Rodríguez in Havana, Cuba, contributed to this report.
